Quechua

pl.-·uas or -·ua a member of a group of South American Indian peoples dominant in the former Inca Empire

the language of these peoples, now spoken widely in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile

Origin of Quechua

Spanish from Quechua qheswa, qhechwa, temperate valleys

Quechua

or Quich·ua also Kech·ua

noun

pl.Quechua, or Quech·uas or Quichua or Quich·uas also Kechua or Kech·uas

The Quechuan language of the Inca Empire, now widely spoken throughout the Andes highlands from southern Colombia to Chile.

a. A member of a South American Indian people originally having been part of the Inca Empire.

b. A member of a Quechuan-speaking people.

Origin of Quechua

Spanish from Quechua (Cuzco dialect) qhichwatemperate valley (originally used in Spanish to designate the language of one Quechua-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the temperate valleys of the Andes and later extended to other groups)